From Now On My Name Is Abu Hamza Buza; Refer To Me By That Name. My Only Crime Is That I Am Catholic Croat

by Ana DRMAC

Hrvatska Rijec, Sarajevo, Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina, B-H, October 22, 2001

The recent decision of the Federation BH government to respond to the request of the Hague Tribunal to give guarantees for the release of Mehmed Alagic, Amir Kubura, Enver Hadzihasanovic and Sefer Halilovic (currently held in custody in the Hague Tribunal and charged with war crimes) so that they could defend themselves from freedom, provoked different reactions in the public. However, in some individuals it spurred hope that the same treatment may be extended to them as well. Above all, Vlatko Buzuk is one of them. Buzuk is a former policeman and member of the HVO who has been charged with war crimes against civilian population by the Sarajevo Cantonal prosecutor and has been kept in custody for more than a year now. Vlatko Buzuk reacted to the aforementioned decision of the Federation BH government with a letter that he sent via his defense attorney Nikica Grzic to the Federation BH Ministry of Justice (the same letter was sent to the OHR department for human rights and media in Bosnia-Hercegovina).

"Given that as a minister you have the obligation to respect the Constitution which guarantees equal rights to all the citizens regardless of their ethnicity, I hope that your efforts to make sure that Halilovic and others are released, will also extend to Vlatko Buzuk," the letter to the Federation BH Minister of Justice, Zovko Mijan, says among other. Mijan's efforts to secure the release of Halilovic and other indicted Bosniak officers were welcomed by Buzuk, who says that he hopes that he will also be given a chance to defend himself from freedom and that his case will not be affected by the fact that the former are senior officers of the Army of Bosnia-Hercegovina, while Vlatko Buzuk and, for example, Tibor Prajo from Kiseljak, are merely HVO soldiers.

The letter among other reminds the minister that at the time Halilovic, Kubura, Hadzihasanovic, and Alagic were arrested, the president of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia-Hercegovina, Zlatko Lagumdzija stated that he would take care of the family of Amir Kubura.

"After my arrest, my wife and small child have been denied all income so that we appeal to you to make sure that they be given the same status as the mentioned Hague prisoners," Vlatko Buzuk concludes his letter to the Federation BH Minister for Justice.

However, judging by his behavior during the continuation of the trial in front of the Sarajevo Cantonal Court on October 12, when the defense request that Buzuk be released from custody for the rest of the trial was rejected, he obviously does not believe anymore that his requests will be fulfilled.

Namely, surprising everyone present in the courtroom, at the end of the hearing on October 12, Buzuk requested to be allowed to convert to Islam within a week.

"From now on my name is Abu Hamza, and please refer to me by that name. I believe that by doing so I will obtain conditions for a more fair trial because my only crime is that I am a Croat and a Catholic," Vlatko Buzuk explained his request.

If this request were not a cry for help by a man who hasn't been able to find out for a whole year what he is being tried for, it may have seemed funny. But, one must wonder whether the trial of Vlatko Buzuk in which so far not a single prosecution witness has implicated him in any of the crimes the indictment charges him with, is more akin to a confusing and comical theater play than a serious trial for crimes, war crimes and genocide, he has been charged with.

Translated on March 22, 2002